Cataclysm
by ClassicalChaos
Summary: An AU of Percy's life after the Battle of Manhattan. During the fight against Kronos, Percy was betrayed by the one person he thought he could trust the most. Now, he has to find new friends and allies after his old life was destroyed. I'm bad at summaries, but this will eventually be a Percy/Zoe fic, and Chaos will most likely make an appearance at some point.
1. Chapter 1: Betrayal

AN: Hey guys, it's good to be writing again, and I think I will be returning to my first story sooner or later, so don't worry about that. This is an idea that's been floating around in my head for a while, and I think I'll find a way to make it Percy/Zoe, since it's obvious from this first chapter that Percabeth isn't going to happen in this story. The title is based off some ideas I've had on where this story could eventually go, but it's still a work in progress, so it's very possible that it could change. Follow and/or favorite this story to keep an eye on it as it grows. I hope you like it!

 **Chapter 1: Betrayal**

"Where . . . where is the spot?" Annabeth asked quietly. Percy knew he wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but this was Annabeth. If he couldn't trust her, he couldn't trust anyone.

"The small of my back," he said, and guided her hand to the one spot that kept him anchored to the mortal world: where _she_ kept him anchored to the mortal world. His body shivered at her touch and he realized how important Annabeth was to him. He was all but invincible and she had still managed to save his life.

"Are you okay, Percy?" she asked, and he realized that he had been staring. He shook his head and laughed.

"No, I am not okay; not as long as you're still injured." He squeezed her hand reassuringly and brushed a few strands of hair off her face. "Go to sleep, Annabeth," he said gently, and she closed her eyes.

Percy stood over a prostrate figure in the throne room of Olympus. He looked down into the golden eyes of Luke, still possessed by Kronos, and stabbed down onto his chest, hoping to get a lucky strike on his vulnerable spot. Kronos caught the blade with his hand and ripped it out of Percy's grasp. Kronos kicked Percy in the chest, breaking several ribs. Kronos got to his feet and slashed at Percy, who was still on the ground, but Annabeth jumped between them and caught the blow with the hilt of her knife.

Annabeth's eyes were wet with tears but there was a steely look of determination in her eyes. "Luke, please. Your mother saw your fate. I know what she saw. You have to trust me."

"Service to Kronos!" Luke roared. "This is my fate!" With those words, he struck her in the face with his free hand, knocking her across the room and slamming her into the wall of the throne room. She coughed up some blood and dropped her dagger on the ground.

"You're holding him back even now. Luke, please listen to me" she begged, showing her unarmed hands. The look of determination in her eyes was gone, replaced by a look of extreme sorrow. "I love you, Luke," she whispered, as Kronos stepped toward her

"Annabeth!" he gasped, but it wasn't Kronos' voice, it was Luke's. He staggered forward and dropped to his knees in front of her. His grip on his sword loosened and Percy came up behind him and knocked it out of his hand. Immediately, Luke's expression changed from surprised to enraged as he turned around to look at Percy. Percy swept Kronos' legs out from under him and stood over him, groaning with pain from his broken ribs.

Luke trembled for a moment before he regained control of his body and stayed on the ground. He clenched his teeth as he unlatched the side straps of his armor, and pointed to a spot on the left side of his chest. Percy's eyes widened as he realized what Luke was showing him, and he raised his sword to destroy Kronos.

Annabeth looked on in shock, not realizing the significance of what was happening until Percy was ready to stab Luke. "Percy, NO!" she shouted, trying to stagger to her feet, her mind still foggy from the trauma to her head and the

Percy looked at her, his normally bright green eyes clouded and darkened with sorrow, and he said something so quietly, Annabeth could barely hear him: _I'm so sorry_. With that, he turned back toward Luke, and Annabeth, in her desperation, scooped up her dagger, staggered to her feet, and did the one thing that could stop Percy from killing Luke: she drove her knife through his vulnerable spot in the small of his back.

Percy arched his back in agony and let out an ear-piercing scream before he slumped to the floor, blood pouring out of his back. Annabeth took a step back and her eyes widened as her hysteria dissipated. "Oh, gods, what have I done?" she murmured as her eyes filled with tears and her lips trembled with barely-contained emotion. She fell to her knees and her bloody knife clattered to the ground next to Luke.

Luke reached his arm out slowly, and wrapped his hand around the handle of Annabeth's knife. "I love you too, Annabeth," he whispered, and drove her knife into his chest. He cried out in pain, and his eyes glowed like twin furnaces. An aura of golden light surrounded him, growing brighter and brighter, before the essence of Kronos left him in an explosive blast, knocking Annabeth off her feet.

Percy saw the blast of light and the destruction of Kronos with half-opened eyes. The last thing his eyes saw before he closed them for the last time was the throne room doors being blown off their hinges as the Olympians stormed inside in full war regalia, expecting a battle. What they found instead was Annabeth kneeling over the broken and bloody body of Luke, sobbing at the loss of the man she loved, and the guilt that she had just killed her best friend.

AN: That's all for now, but more will be coming shortly! If you liked it, leave a review saying why, and if you didn't like it, leave a review saying why. I want all the feedback I can get! I have some ideas of where I want this to go, but most of it is completely flexible, so I would LOVE to hear your opinions and ideas about where this should go next! I want Chaos to pop up pretty soon, but, again, my heart isn't completely set on anything. Review away with anything you want to tell me; I can't wait to hear what you have to say!


	2. Chapter 2: Rewards

AN: I'm back already with chapter 2. This is a bit of a filler chapter, but I think I should just clarify something. Pretty much everything that happened in the books up until where chapter 1 kicks off happened before this story. I might change one or two things, but for the most part, it's all still there. As for what comes next, I'll be following Percy in the Underworld for a while, probably becoming friends with Zoe in the process, since I still intend to make this a Percy/Zoe fic. As always, please leave a review with questions, comments, or suggestions. I love to hear what you have to say. Like I said before, the name might change at some point, so be sure to like and follow to keep track of what goes down.

 **Chapter 2: Rewards**

Percy opened his eyes and stood up to look at the throne room, filled with the gods and demigods. Thalia was sitting, with her arm wrapped around Annabeth, who was still sobbing violently. Percy's hand tightened into a fist and he was about to step toward her when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw the man who was restraining him with just a touch. He was tall and muscular, with copper skin and hair blacker than Percy's flowing down his shoulders. He was regal and majestic, and Percy couldn't help thinking that he looked like a god, before it occurred to him that this man might actually _be_ one.

"Who are you?" he asked, but a sinking feeling in his chest told him that he already knew who this man was. The man smiled slightly and extended a pair of gorgeous, iridescent wings that had been folded across his back, glimmering in shades of blue, black, and purple.

"You know who I am, Percy. And you know why I am here." he said in a deep, rich voice that Percy couldn't help but compare to that of Morgan Freeman or James Earl Jones. The voice alone radiated power, and Percy knew who was standing before him.

"You're Death; and that means I'm dead. Which also means I can't do anything about _her_." he said, pointing to Annabeth.

"I am indeed Thanatos, the god of death, and yes, Percy: you are dead and now unable to interact in any way with the world of the living." Death said. Percy nodded slowly and pointed to the bloody body at his feet: _his_ body.

"I think that's a bit of a giveaway," he said, and even managed a small chuckle. "You know, ever since I heard that stupid prophecy, I've been expecting to die; I just thought that it would be Kronos who would kill me, not my best friend."

"Death comes to all, but rarely in the form they expect." Thanatos said slowly. ". . . Although, I will not lie when I say that the manner of your death came as a great surprise to me. I expected your end to come in battle against a mighty foe, not struck down from behind by your closest friend."

Percy tightened his lips at the mention of his demise, but he bottled up his anger until he had some way of releasing it. "Do you appear to everyone when they die?" he asked Death.

Thanatos chuckled and shook his head. "I appear only to those who deserve my personal presence: great heroes. Your friends Charles Beckendorf and Zoe Nightshade were two of those heroes. I judged them personally and escorted them to Elyusium, just as I will do with you."

"Why are we still here, then?" Percy asked.

"I thought perhaps you wished to see what legacy you will leave behind to the gods and your friends. Soon, they will reward your friends, even Annabeth."

"WHAT?!" Percy shouted. " _REWARD_ her? She _killed_ me!"

"I'm afraid they don't know that, Percy, and I am quite incapable of telling them. That would overstep my boundaries. The Olympians are to make their own judgements, free from the prejudice of the dead. We can do nothing but watch." With that, he held Percy's arm and floated them up to the top of the throne room, where they could get a bird's eye view of the council. The three fates themselves collected Percy's and Luke's bodies. Luke was wrapped in a green and white burial shroud, and Percy's body was wrapped in a green silk shroud embroidered with a trident.

Before the Fates carried out the bodies, Hermes opened Luke's shroud and kissed his forehead before murmuring a few things Percy couldn't hear. Poseidon was kneeling next to Percy's body, his shoulders heaving with sobs. Finally, he allowed the Fates to take the body, and returned to his seat, his eyes flashing dangerously, causing even Zeus to avoid his gaze.

After the bodies were removed, the time for rewards came. Thalia was promised aid in filling the ranks of her hunters, Grover was made an elder of the wild, and Tyson was made a general of Poseidon's army and was promised a new stick. Percy paid little attention to the proceedings until Annabeth's name was called. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she still knelt before the gods.

"Annabeth Chase," Zeus started, "you were not the only savior of Olympus, but you are the only survivor of the fight with Kronos. We were prepared to offer a gift to Percy; a gift that has not been awarded to a mortal in centuries: the gift of godhood. As the only surviving savior of Olympus, we offer you this prize in his stead. You shall become a goddess. Immortal. Undying. You will serve as your mother's lieutenant for all time."

Annabeth was shocked, but Percy noticed a look of relief briefly flash across her face. Thanatos snorted; he had apparently seen her look of relief as well. "She doesn't want to be judged," he said. Percy looked at him questioningly before he realized what Thanatos was saying: Annabeth didn't want to die, because when she was judged, her murder of Percy would be brought to light when the judges searched her mind.

"I accept, Lord Zeus," she said.

"Kneel, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. Do you pledge your eternal loyalty to Olympus and to this council of gods?" Zeus asked.

"I do."

"Then rise, Annabeth, daughter and lieutenant of Athena; goddess of Olympus!" Zeus thundered. Annabeth's body glowed slightly as she stood, and her battered and damaged armor was replaced by a suit of radiant white robes covered with a new set of godly celestial bronze armor. Her knife still hung at her side, and in her hand she held a beautiful helmet inlaid with images of gryphons and sphinxes, similar to her mother's helmet.

Percy gritted his teeth at the sight of Annabeth, attired in godly clothing and armor, looking every inch like the goddess she now was. Her normally bright grey eyes were dark and clouded as she took her place at the right hand of her mother.

Thanatos nodded his head slowly, obviously unsurprised by the turn of events unfolding in front of him. "Come, Percy," he said to Percy, who was shaking with rage at the honors showered onto Annabeth after her betrayal. Thanatos laid his hand on Percy's arm and they dissolved into smoke, reappearing outside the gates of Elysium. Thanatos waved his hand and the gates flew open. He swept his arm in a panoramic gesture over the green fields and blue waters before them. "Welcome, Perseus Jackson, to Elysium."


	3. Chapter 3: Percy gets a Life Lesson

AN: What's up everybody, I'm back with another chapter. I hope you like it! As always, leave a review when you're done. The more reviews you leave, the more motivated I am to write. I know there a lot of ghost viewers out there; make yourselves known!

 **Chapter 3: Percy Gets a Life Lesson from Death**

After Percy and Thanatos entered Elysium, they walked down a broad road straight into a small town that looked completely fake. Stone castles and marble temples stood side by side with modern mansions built out of glass and steel. Cobblestone roads connected everything together, and the roads were full of people bustling about.

The people were just as varied as the buildings, dressed in everything from ancient Greek robes to jeans and t-shirts. No one paid a second glance to Percy or his companion; it was obvious that Death was not an uncommon sight in the Underworld. Percy's only perceptions of Elysium were based solely off of the glimpses he had caught of it when he was 12, so he wasn't sure what to expect other than nice houses and barbecues. He had also expected everyone to be in the best of moods, but it was quite obvious that not everyone was happy with their current situation.

"Thanatos, why do some people look so unhappy?" Percy asked. "This is supposed to be paradise."

Thanatos thought for a moment before answering. "People can get bored down here. Eventually, they can run out of new things to do." He looked like he was about to say something else, but apparently decided against it.

Percy noticed Thanatos's hesitation, but decided not to bring it up. "Well, if they're sick of life down here, why don't they choose to be reborn? That would get them out until the end of their next life."

"Not everyone is like you, Percy." Thanatos said with a slight smile. "You could be reborn a dozen times and achieve Elysium in every one of them, but many people barely made it into Elysium, and don't want to take the chance of not making it back in their next life." Thanatos paused for a moment before he took Percy's arm and led him down a few blocks and sat down on a bench with him. On the other side of the street was a small café that looked like it belonged in Paris. Sitting at the table were two people Percy immediately recognized.

Thanatos gestured to the couple laughing and enjoying each other's company. "Your friend Charles Beckendorf is like you: he is a true hero at heart, and would certainly achieve Elysium with every rebirth. Silena, on the other hand," he said, gesturing to the girl, "very nearly ended up in Asphodel. The judges were split down the middle on her, and they asked me to break the tie. I let her in as much as a reward for him as for her own life. She will likely never choose to be reborn, because she knows that she will probably not be admitted again."

Percy looked at the way Charles and Silena looked at each other, and a pang of jealousy shot through his heart; this was what he had wanted with Annabeth, but that life was gone. Nonetheless, he was glad to see two of his old friends receive the happy ending they both deserved, "Thank you, Thanatos. They're both important to me, and I'm glad that they're happy."

"She's one of the lucky ones," Thanatos added, "because she has _him_. They love each other, and so they are happy to remain here together. Not everyone is so lucky; many people are bored of their lives here, but even more are tormented by the memories of their loved ones languishing in Asphodel, or even worse, suffering in The Fields of Punishment. Some choose rebirth as an escape from the memories of the people they will never see again, while others linger here, hoping to one day be reunited with their loved ones." Thanatos paused for almost a full minute, staring at nothing in particular before he spoke again. "Life before death can be painful," he said thoughtfully, "but life _after_ death is often crueler than anything that came before."

Percy felt the throbbing in his heart: the dull ache of betrayal, and understood what Thanatos was saying. The painful memories were shouting at him to be reborn immediately, but then he thought of his mom and all his other friends at Camp Half-Blood who he would never see again if he was reborn. While he was thinking, Thanatos pulled his black iPad out of the air and looked at the screen for a few seconds before it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"Well, that's all the time I have for you today, Percy." Thanatos stood up, fished in the pockets of his robes for a couple seconds, and pulled out a small bronze key, which he tossed to Percy. "Have someone show you where your house is. I think you'll like it." Thanatos winked at Percy and then disappeared from sight in a flash of smoke.

Percy didn't know what else to do, so he decided to crash Charles and Silena's date. He walked nonchalantly over to the café and pulled a chair up to their table. "Hey guys," he said casually, "fancy seeing you here."

AN: I still don't know whether I'll only follow Percy in the Underworld for now, or whether I'll also keep tabs on what's going on up on the surface. If you want to know what's going on up on Olympus, let me know in the reviews and I might make that happen. Also, this _is_ still going to be Percy/Zoe, so I'll probably be bringing in Zoe in the next chapter or two. As always, if you liked it, I would appreciate a review, and if you didn't like it, I would _really_ appreciate a review! I want all the feedback I can get.


	4. Chapter 4: We All Have Secrets

AN: Hey, guys, sorry for the short chapter, but several people expressed interest in seeing what Annabeth is doing in the aftermath of Percy's death, so here it is.

 **Chapter 4: We All Have Secrets**

 _Six Months Later_

Annabeth woke up to the same dream again; the same nightmare that had tormented her every moment for the past six months: the death of Percy. Every night when she closed her eyes, she was haunted by nightmares of her actions. As always, when she woke up, she pushed those thoughts aside and focused on her tasks for the day. She had spent the last six months redesigning Olympus after Kronos trashed it, and the amount of concentration involved in designing each building took her mind off of everything else.

As she left her palace on Olympus, she grabbed her sketchbook and some blueprints and headed down to Athena's newest temple, which she was using as an office while she finished designing Olympus. She expected the temple to be empty, but instead ran into her mother and the last being on Olympus she wanted to see: Hestia. Ever since the Battle of Manhattan, Hestia had always been cold and distant to her, completely at odds with her warm, friendly demeanor to almost everyone else. Hestia had never told Annabeth why she was so unfriendly, but Annabeth couldn't shake the feeling that Hestia knew exactly what she had done.

"Annabeth!" Athena said, "I'm glad you're here; Hestia was just asking me how the memorial for Percy is going. I know you're busy with some of your more major projects, but I was wondering if you had any updates."

Annabeth swallowed the lump out of her throat before responding. "Of course, mother. It's almost complete."

"Great!" Athena said, and gave Annabeth a quick hug. "I have other matters to attend to; I'll see you both around." With that, she swept out of the room, leaving Hestia alone with Annabeth.

Hestia started to walk out of the temple, before she stopped, but kept her back to Annabeth. "It was such a shame that Percy died." Hestia mused quietly, almost to herself. She paused for a moment, before she started talking, this time obviously directly to Annabeth. "And it was such a shame _how_ he died . . . stabbed in the back. A truly unfortunate end to a great hero." Her voice was so innocent, it was almost menacing, but Annabeth knew _exactly_ what her words meant.

Annabeth turned as white as a sheet at Hestia's words, but Hestia didn't say anything else until she was at the door. "We _all_ have secrets, Annabeth." She called out over her shoulder, and walked out without looking back.

Annabeth slowly released the breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding and took a few shaky breaths. Hestia knew what she had done, and it was obvious she had known for six months now. The question that stuck in Annabeth's head, however, was why Hestia didn't tell the other gods what she had done. Apparently, Annabeth wasn't the only one with secrets.

AN: I know this chapter is really short, but it could potentially be important for what will happen later; I'm still not sure. This was all I got done today because I was spending time with family for mother's day, but I figured I would give you what I have. The next chapter should be about Percy again, and as always, leave a review telling me what you think.


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